Posts

Social engineering stories: The sequel

Two more social engineering scenarios demonstrate how hackers still use basic techniques to gain unauthorized access, and what you can do to stop them

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor May 27, 2010 —

John Sileo, an identity theft expert who trains on repelling social engineering, knows from first-hand experience what it’s like to be a victim. Sileo has had his identity stolen—twice. And both instances resulted in catastrophic consequences.

The first crime took place when Sileo’s information was obtained from someone who had gained access to it out of the trash (yes, dumpster diving still works). She bought a house using his financial information and eventually declared bankruptcy.

“That was mild,” said Sileo, who then got hit again when his business partner used his information to embezzle money from clients. Sileo spent several years, and was bankrupt, fighting criminal charges.

Now that he has come out of it all innocent, he spends his time assisting organizations train employees on what social engineering and identity theft techniques look like.

ow that he has come out of it all innocent, he spends his time assisting organizations train employees on what social engineering and identity theft techniques look like.

“I’m trying to inspire employees to care about privacy,” he said. “If they don’t care about it at a human level, they are not going to care about the company’s privacy policy or IT security. You’ve got to get it at a primal personal level.”

Sileo ran through some memorable social engineering scenarios he’s heard during his years as a security lecturer. The first is taken from his upcoming book

If you are serious about training your staff on social engineering scams, fraud detection and protecting your business from a costly data breach, start with the items above and then bring a professional social engineering expert to your next meeting or conference. Email us for more information or contact one of us directly on 800.258.8076.